Stocka
31 Aug 2003, 15:47
Our line-up (of 25 players) looks pretty much set, heading into the finals at this stage.
B: C.Johnson, M.Michael, C.Scott
HB: M.Pike, J.Leppitsch, M.Ashcroft
C: N.Lappin, M.Voss, J.Akermanis
HF: A.McGrath, J.Brown, B.Caracella
F: S.Hart, A.Lynch, C.McRae
Foll: C.Keating, S.Black, L.Power
Inter: (from) J.Charman, D.Bradshaw, D.White, T.Notting, R.Copeland, A.Shattock, B.McDonald
Losing B.Scott for the rest of the year is a huge blow, as he proves so often to be an extremely versatile player in terms of either shutting down an opponent, or breaking open the hard-ball contests in the middle.
Similarly, with injury clouds over the likes of Shattock and Pike, we may be stretched in the "utility" department, as these two players would be the next in line to fill B.Scott's shoes. We really need at least one of these two to be fit from this week onwards.
Hopefully Johnson is right to take the field, as he is certainly a key player for us. With that said though, at least we have a couple of players who 'can' fill in for his role in the back pocket (even if not as brilliantly as the man himself).
With this in mind, McGrath would appear to have sealed a position in the seniors for the rest of the year - especially on the back of a 6 goal haul last night, showing his versatility, after also proving to be a reasonable replacement for Johnson in the back pocket at other times this year.
Hart and Power might just prove to be the revelations that get us across the line this year, if we go that far. The fact that we have players of this quality behind the likes of Voss, Lappin, Akermanis, and Black, who we can all rotate through the midfield, is an absolutely huge advantage which MUST be maximised upon. If they're not rotating through the midfield, they are more than capable of ripping sides apart in the forward line with crucial goals or disciplined touches. I honestly think that Hart and Power combine to one of our major keys heading into this finals campaign.
Matthews is going to need to specifically coach the side to its current strengths, over this finals series, as opposed to merely relying on everything going right within an "ideal" plan. IMO, in previous years, our strength has been in the "Fab-4", whereas, this season, these four players have come back to the field somewhat, and likewise, oppposition teams have improved in their matching of our top-line midfielders.
With this said, Lynch and Brown appear to be one of our major strengths at this point in time, and when matched with our plethora of "extra" quality small-men, could really prove to be an unstoppable force during the finals.
The likes of Bradshaw, Notting, White and Copeland will need to be on their game every week from here on in. Although they've all proven themselves capable of being important players for us at times, they have also proven to be passengers on other occasions.
Hopefully McDonald can get himself right, in order to be fully ready as a back-up in case we lose one of either Keating or Charman.
At this stage, the major worry for us, is the injury cloud that hangs over Johnson, Shattock, Pike, Michael, C.Scott and McRae. Although I suspect that most of these may be minor niggles, we cannot afford to have more than two of these players unavailable from here on in.
B: C.Johnson, M.Michael, C.Scott
HB: M.Pike, J.Leppitsch, M.Ashcroft
C: N.Lappin, M.Voss, J.Akermanis
HF: A.McGrath, J.Brown, B.Caracella
F: S.Hart, A.Lynch, C.McRae
Foll: C.Keating, S.Black, L.Power
Inter: (from) J.Charman, D.Bradshaw, D.White, T.Notting, R.Copeland, A.Shattock, B.McDonald
Losing B.Scott for the rest of the year is a huge blow, as he proves so often to be an extremely versatile player in terms of either shutting down an opponent, or breaking open the hard-ball contests in the middle.
Similarly, with injury clouds over the likes of Shattock and Pike, we may be stretched in the "utility" department, as these two players would be the next in line to fill B.Scott's shoes. We really need at least one of these two to be fit from this week onwards.
Hopefully Johnson is right to take the field, as he is certainly a key player for us. With that said though, at least we have a couple of players who 'can' fill in for his role in the back pocket (even if not as brilliantly as the man himself).
With this in mind, McGrath would appear to have sealed a position in the seniors for the rest of the year - especially on the back of a 6 goal haul last night, showing his versatility, after also proving to be a reasonable replacement for Johnson in the back pocket at other times this year.
Hart and Power might just prove to be the revelations that get us across the line this year, if we go that far. The fact that we have players of this quality behind the likes of Voss, Lappin, Akermanis, and Black, who we can all rotate through the midfield, is an absolutely huge advantage which MUST be maximised upon. If they're not rotating through the midfield, they are more than capable of ripping sides apart in the forward line with crucial goals or disciplined touches. I honestly think that Hart and Power combine to one of our major keys heading into this finals campaign.
Matthews is going to need to specifically coach the side to its current strengths, over this finals series, as opposed to merely relying on everything going right within an "ideal" plan. IMO, in previous years, our strength has been in the "Fab-4", whereas, this season, these four players have come back to the field somewhat, and likewise, oppposition teams have improved in their matching of our top-line midfielders.
With this said, Lynch and Brown appear to be one of our major strengths at this point in time, and when matched with our plethora of "extra" quality small-men, could really prove to be an unstoppable force during the finals.
The likes of Bradshaw, Notting, White and Copeland will need to be on their game every week from here on in. Although they've all proven themselves capable of being important players for us at times, they have also proven to be passengers on other occasions.
Hopefully McDonald can get himself right, in order to be fully ready as a back-up in case we lose one of either Keating or Charman.
At this stage, the major worry for us, is the injury cloud that hangs over Johnson, Shattock, Pike, Michael, C.Scott and McRae. Although I suspect that most of these may be minor niggles, we cannot afford to have more than two of these players unavailable from here on in.